NOTTINGHAM: Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav once again cast a spell on the England batsmen with his mesmerizing wrist spinners as his career-best 6 for 25 restricted the hosts to a moderate 268 in the first ODI, here today.
Once Virat Kohli opted to field, the English script unfolded very much on similar lines with the T20 series, where things went downhill as soon as Kuldeep was introduced into the attack.
None of the England batsmen were able to read him and a testimony to that was his brilliant figures of 10-0-25-6. He bowled an astounding 38 dot balls and not once was he hit for a boundary. This was Kuldeep’s first five-for in ODIs after he had recently achieved the same feat in T20Is during the Manchester encounter.
As usual Jos Buttler (53 off 51 balls) looked the most comfirtable while Ben Stokes (50 off 103 balls) played a painstaking knock. Together, they added 83 for the fifth wicket showing signs of recovery but he dismissed the two set batsmen in quick succession to bring about the home team’s downfall.
Moeen Ali (24) and Adil Rashid (22) added a few quick runs ro help England cross the 250-run mark before they were all out in the final over with a delivery left.
That Kuldeep was singularly responsible for England’s batting collapse was evident more so because the next best figures were 2 for 70 in 9.5 overs by Umesh Yadav. (AGENCIES)
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